Hello everyone,
I found m99m's response here interesting and I'd like to add my 2 bits to it.
As a caveat, I am a doctoral student in the disability studies program at
the University of Illinois at Chicago. Given my location, I have a strong
desire for DS to survive as an academic and interdisciplinary field.
One last caveat: To make things easier for me, and hopefully for the reader, I
will embed my responses in the body of m99m's text.
>> Continuation even of the present modest number of DS courses depends on
>> various factors, prominent among which are:
>>
>> (1) a continuing (and if possible, rising) demand for the courses, from
>> fee-paying or funded customers with sufficient proximity;
Additionally, I believe these courses need to begin in other academic
departments. My hunch is that there are a number of people who do research
and teach courses involving disability. Although, these folks may not
identify themselves as scholars of disability. As a burgeoning field, DS
scholars need to seek out these connections to create networks that may lead
to furture DS programs.
>> (2) the development and maintenance of a credible academic image for DS,
>> measurable perhaps in terms of serious research output in quality refereed
>> journals, with progress in quantity of worthwhile citation (i.e. citation
>> not only by mutual stroking, nor for purposes of refutation or ridicule,
>> but by authors in adjacent or distant fields, writing also in quality
>> journals, who are citing what they consider to be authoritative research);
hear, hear.
>> (3) some evidence that people with postgraduate degrees in DS have career
>> possibilities, i.e. the qualifications command respect from a range of
>> potential employers (apart from just going on to teach more DS), or open
>> up viable routes to self-employment.
As I mentioned above, I am currently a doctoral student so this issue is VERY
important to me and my classmates. Given that academic programs in DS are
scarce at the present time, students need to be mindful that they may not
initially find employment in DS. Rather, they may need to seek out the
adjacent fields that mesh well with their background. In my humble opinion,
the students who have the best chance of being immediately successful in this
task will be those with well established ties to a field through their
master's program. If I were a betting man, and remember I'm a grad student so
I'm a poor man with small wagers, I would bet that the students who come to DS
at UIC with ties in the rehab fields will be the most immediately successful
in forging a DS career and creating DS courses. Before the boos and hisses
pour out, I make this statement based entirely on the academic market. Rehab
programs are hiring and English departments are not, plain and simple.
>> In the UK, departments of Chemistry, History, Philosophy, and
>> other 'respectable' fields of study are in fact being closed left and
>> right, as well as 'Cultural Studies', East Asian Studies, etc, under
>> various pretexts, even though tertiary education is expanding. Meanwhile,
>> participants in this list may be aware of the recent cries of anguish on
>> the DS-Hum list, suggesting some political difficulties with the flagship
>> Disability Studies at UIC (Illinois at Chicago) and an (unconfirmed)
>> attempted take-over bid by insurgents from the Rehabista Front.
If I may paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of DS's death at UIC have been
greatly exaggerated. m99m is wise to note that the recent information about
the program is largely unconfirmed. While the cries of anguish have certainly
found their ways to numerous listservs, scant factual information has made the
same journey. Yesterday, the program officially named Carol Gill as its
director of graduate studies after David Mitchell's 3-year term expired.
Carol certainly doesn't need me to do her PR work, but I'm confident that the
DS program will continue to prosper under her guidance.
>> When it's sexy, people try to climb aboard. When it starts greying, and
>> airing its views on life, or becomes merely a 'virtual' experience down a
>> wire, the managerial strategists and beancounters move in; the punters
>> look for something younger and prettier. That's yer academic whorehouse.
well put. Lets hope the DS field ages more like Bette Davis than Keith
Richards.
Best,
Richard
Richard Meldrum, LCSW
Ph.D. student in Disability Studies
Graduate Research Assistant with Advocacy and Empowerment
For Minorities with Disabilities
Department of Disability and Human Development
College of Applied Health Sciences
1640 West Roosevelt Road
Chicago, IL 60608-6904
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